DARK FORCES II: SHADOW OF THE SITH
by rpvee
Summary: One year after the events of 'DARK FORCES I', Luke Skywalker has made a full recovery from his wounds inflicted by the Sith Lord Suoidis. Now the New Republic is sending out their fleet to find the Imperials and wipe them out once and for all...
1. SUOIDIS

The _Millennium Falcon_, now know as the _Emperor's Pride_, dodged every single TIE fighter that shot at the famous ship. From his window in his Star Destroyer, Admiral Rotok watched. The _Pride_ was passing its test.

_Beep_! Came a disturbing sound. It was the Admiral's comlink. On the other end was…

_Oh_. Rotok thought. The last person Rotok wanted to be with was calling him. Did this person really want him, or did he just want Rotok to feel dread?

This person was Emperor Suoidis, the man who had nearly killed the legendary Luke Skywalker one year ago. Suoidis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, meaning he was loyal to the Dark Side of the Force. Suoidis was feared by all Imperials, and now all members of the New Republic who knew of him.

Rotok turned on his comlink and took a deep breath.

"Yes, my lord?" he asked. A strong voice replied.

"Come to my chambers immediately." The voice ordered.

"Yes, my lord." Rotok said, and he headed toward the elevators.

…………………………………………………………….

When the door to the Emperor's chambers slid open, Rotok was frozen with fear to see the Emperor waiting for him impatiently. Suoidis wore clothes that showed off his allegiance to the Dark Side. His upper half looked just like the late Darth Vader's, but it was missing the control panel and helmet/mask. His lower half was just like the old Sith Lord Darth Maul's.

"How can I help you, my lord?" Rotok asked. Suoidis glared at the Admiral. The Sith Lord sensed Rotok's fear.

"The New Republic," Suoidis began, stepping closer to Rotok, only to make him more nervous. "Is alarmed of my power. Alarmed is not good enough. They should be _afraid_."

"What should we do, my lord?" Rotok managed to ask.

"The Republic's starship fleet is soon going to go on a hunt for us. Send a legion of stormtroopers and a dozen TIE fighters to every system we can to meet them."

Rotok bowed and left.

Suoidis then went over to his throne and sat down. He focused on the Dark Side of the Force, going through a doorway in the Force that he had once ignored. The doorway opened to endless possibilities, but only one possibility was important to Suoidis right now. That possibility was one that Darth Plagueis had created ages ago: The ability to cheat death.

Soon no one would be a threat to Suoidis.

Not even the Jedi.


	2. ENDOR

Luke walked through the forest of Endor, the warm sun of the planet shining down upon his face. It was one year since the death of Luke's father, Anakin, and also one year since Luke's own near death at the hands of the evil Darth Suoidis.

Luke sighed. Why did he love Endor so much? Was it because of its peaceful atmosphere? The friendly Ewoks? He didn't know, and he didn't care.

As he approached the Ewok village after visiting the site of his father's body, Luke remembered his duel with Suoidis, and how his sister Leia had saved him from certain death. Luke shook his head. He didn't want to think about the Dark Side now. Now was the time to rejoice for his father.

…………………………………………………………….

That night, Luke was invited to a tribal feast to celebrate the anniversary of the Empire's "defeat". Luke enjoyed the Ewoks' company. He felt like he was reliving that evening seven years ago when all was happy and no more danger existed.

…………………………………………………………….

Luke climbed into bed and fell asleep right away…

But nightmares haunted Luke.

Visions of the victorious Darth Suoidis watching Luke fall down the elevator shaft.

Visions of Leia almost being killed by the Sith Lord…

The bright morning sun woke Luke. The night had gone by fast.

"Master Luke," came a voice that was always filled with a little bit of worry. A gold-plated protocol droid entered.

"Good morning, 3P0." Luke said to the droid.

"Good morning, sir," C3P0 said. "The chief of the tribe would like to speak with you."

"Bring him in." Luke said happily. 3P0 exited the room and soon returned with a black-furred Ewok. This Ewok was the chief, Hatow. Hatow spoke to Luke, and 3P0 translated:

"Chief Hatow wishes you a good morning and says that Rebels have landed to pick you up."

"What!" Luke gasped. He jumped out of bed, asked the droid and the Ewok to leave, and he got dressed into the black Jedi uniform that had felt the lightning of two Sith Lords: Palpatine's and Suoidis'.

A few minutes later, Luke exited his hut and walked down the long ramp to the grassy ground of Endor. There, Wedge Antilles and a few other Rebel pilots were waiting for him.

"Wedge!" Luke called. He shook the pilot's gloved hand. "How's it going?"

"Good, for now." Wedge shrugged, but Luke could tell that the daring Rebel was lying.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked. Wedge got closer to Luke and whispered in the Jedi's ear.

"The rest of my Squadron has been killed by Imperials." he explained. "They've been waiting for us at very single system we've been to. Other parts of the fleet have experienced the same thing. It's like they know where we're going, but that's not possible…" Wedge trailed off when he saw that Luke had a horrified expression on his face.

"Suoidis…" Luke said to no one in particular.

"That New Emperor?" Wedge asked. Luke nodded, and Wedge rolled his eyes. "How would some guy know our secret plans and strategies?"

"Suoidis is like me, he uses the Force… but he manipulates it… he uses the Force's dark side. That's how he knew." Luke explained. Wedge put his arm around Luke's shoulder and guided him toward the Jedi's X-Wing. R2D2 was already in the ship's astromech droid hatch.

"Relax, Luke," Wedge said. "Get ready to take off, we leave in an hour."

"I'm helping you find the Empire?" Luke asked.

"You bet!" Wedge grinned. "Maybe if we're lucky we can find this Suoidis, too!"

Wedge did not see the fear in Luke's eyes.


	3. WAIT!

The orb of green that was Endor got smaller and smaller as Luke flew away in his X-Wing. The farewell and thank you to the Ewoks had been shorter than Luke would have preferred, but Wedge had been anxious to leave and get on with the hunt. Same old Wedge: The sooner the battle the better.

Now Luke followed the other X-Wings. He turned on his radio.

"What's our destination?" he asked into it.

"Dantooine." Came Wedge's reply.

"Not Korriban?" Luke asked.

"No, we already looked there. The Star Destroyer that you were on was long gone and somehow it didn't leave a trail. No TIEs were waiting for us, and the only thing we found on Korriban itself was a dead Imperial Admiral. There were no wounds on the body, so he probably died of dehydration or starvation." Wedge reported. "To Dantooine." he said, and the X-Wings (including Luke's) jumped to lightspeed.

…………………………………………………………….

During his meditation, in his mind, Darth Suoidis saw every single Imperial under his control. He cast a certain Force power over every single one. This power was the power to cheating death.

No Imperial, including Admiral Rotok, knew what Suoidis was doing. They would find out their new power, though, when they were in their next battle.

This power also worked over the Imperial ships.

And bases.

And planets.

EVERYTHING.

Now the Empire could rule again… forever.

…………………………………………………………….

Dantooine grew larger as the X-Wing fighters approached it. Soon Luke found himself landing his ship on Dantooine's mossy ground. Wedge and his fellow pilots jumped out of their ships, followed by Luke.

"We'll scan the area, then start the search." One of the Rebels said. He pulled out a small device and looked down at its screen. "Well," he said. "Nothing so far… wait!" he suddenly shouted, and then a blaster bolt hit him in the back, killing him instantly.


	4. TRAPPED

Luke instinctively called his lightsaber to his hand with the Force and ignited it. Wedge and the rest of his Squadron pulled out their blasters. Meanwhile, the body of the shot pilot fell.

A ripple in the Force- Luke threw his saber at a nearby bush. There was a yelp and a body in white armor fell.

"A scout trooper," Wedge said, walking over to the body. "We haven't had one of those waiting for us…" After a moment of thinking, Wedge realized what he'd gotten his friends into. "There's an Imperial base here!" he shouted, and suddenly about fifty stormtroopers appeared from behind trees and bushes. Five blasters and a lightsaber were raised, but fifty enemy blasters made them lower.

"Give us the lightsaber, Jedi!" a stormtrooper ordered, walking toward Luke. Luke began to hand his weapon over to the soldier… but then he cut the trooper's head off instead. The rest of the Imperials fired at the Rebels, and Luke blocked every single blast…

But a shot at Luke's hand made the lightsaber fly out of Luke's grip.

A stormtrooper carrying six handcuffs approached Luke and the rest of the Rebels.

…………………………………………………………….

Over his comlink, Suoidis heard Admiral Rotok's report.

"On Dantooine we've captured a group of Rebels," Rotok began, but Suoidis was barely listening. As long as the New Republic's fleet was wiped out, he was happy. But Rotok continued…

"The group's members are: Wedge Antilles, Redf Gorar, Juodis Jyr, who was killed, Hyard Yitruk, Kequel Hauy, and… oh, my." Rotok suddenly stopped.

"What?" Suoidis asked through the comlink. There was no reply. "Admiral?"

Finally, a nervous Rotok answered.

"The last Rebel is…" Rotok began. "Luke Skywalker."

Suoidis' eyes widened and flashed red. Memories flew into the Sith Lord's brain: The duel with Skywalker, the Force Lightning… he had _killed_ Skywalker! He had seen Skywalker's sister carrying the Jedi's body! LUKE SKYWALKER WAS DEAD! He _had_ to be! But apparently he wasn't…

The revenge against the Skywalkers… it had not been achieved

Suoidis slammed his fist down upon his throne's armrest.

"Admiral, prepare my shuttle!" he snarled.

"Yes, my lord." Rotok said. "What will be your destination?"

"Dantooine!" Suoidis hollered, and he stormed off toward the elevators.


	5. ANGER OF THE DARK SIDE

Luke, Wedge, and the rest of Rogue Squadron were placed in their own individual cells inside the Imperial base. Even worse, the cells were set up so that no one could talk to anyone else from across the hallway. Everyone's weapons, comlinks, and radios had been taken away.

Two stormtroopers were walking down the prison hallway of the Imperial base. They were talking, and as they approached Luke's cell, the Jedi overheard their conversation.

"Did you hear who's coming?" one asked the other.

"No, who?" the other asked.

"Emperor Suoidis." The first trooper answered. Luke froze. Suoidis was coming! Luke couldn't face him again.

Once the stormtroopers were gone, Luke concentrated all of his Force energy on the cell door. Eventually, it slid open. Luke ran out of his cell and opened all of the other cells that the Squadron was in.

"Luke!" Wedge gasped once he saw who had opened his cell door. "How did you-"

"There's no time, we have to go!" Luke interrupted. "Suoidis is coming." Wedge's alarm showed.

"Let's go, quick!" he ordered to the rest of his team. "We'll stop by the weapons room for our things." He and Luke ran down the hallway, the Squadron following them.

…………………………………………………………….

Suoidis saw Dantooine get closer and closer. Finally Skywalker would die at his hands. Ever since that night on Coruscant decades earlier, the hatred towards the Skywalkers had grown larger and larger…

That night.

The night the shadow of the Dark Side consumed the galaxy.

The night Darth Vader had been born, and the future for Suoidis had died.

A shout from the captain of the shuttle interrupted Suoidis' thoughts.

"My lord!" the captain called. "We have a group of Rebel ships leaving the planet!"

Suoidis quickly looked out his window, just in time to see six X-Wing fighters jump to lightspeed. The Sith Lord knew that one of them had been Skywalker.

"Should we follow them, sir?" the captain asked, turning to his master.

"No," Suoidis growled, rage boiling inside of him. "I have some business to take care of with the prison guards on Dantooine."

"Very well, my lord." The pilot said, turning back to his controls. The shuttle continued its approach to Dantooine.

…………………………………………………………….

Over his radio, Luke heard Wedge and the rest of Rogue Squadron's shouts of joy. He couldn't blame them: They had escaped certain death. But then Luke wondered:

_Why aren't I happy?_

He knew the answer: He had almost seen Suoidis again. Even that thought was torture for Luke. He knew that it was against the Jedi code to be so afraid, but he couldn't help it. Besides, he doubted that the Jedi who had written the code had had such a near-death experience with a Sith Lord.

Another troubling thought suddenly entered Luke's mind: He would have to face Suoidis again some time.

Luke took a deep breath. Until that time came, he would have to relax.

…………………………………………………………….

With a shout of rage, Suoidis knocked aside the body of a stormtrooper that had been leaning against a wall.

_Skywalker's gotten better!_ He realized. He was right. Every single Imperial who had been in the base at the time of the Rebels' escape had been killed, most by a lightsaber.

"My lord!" came a stormtrooper's voice. Suoidis turned, and a stormtrooper with a missing right hand and a deep lightsaber wound in the shoulder approached him.

"Are you the commander of this base?" Suoidis asked. The dying stormtrooper nodded.

"Please help me…" the soldier begged. Suoidis looked at the trooper, and the trooper stared back… but in the Emperor's eyes the trooper saw hell.

"Do you have any idea how angry you have made me?" Suoidis asked.

"I beg for your forgiveness-" the commander began, but Suoidis interrupted.

"You beg for _mercy_, not forgiveness." The Sith bellowed, and there was a sudden flash of red. All of a sudden, there was a gash in the trooper's throat, and the Imperial fell to the ground, dead.

Suoidis clipped his deactivated lightsaber on to his belt. The weapon had been hungry for blood- it had not tasted any since the duel with Skywalker.

"Captain!" Suoidis called, looking down at the body. The captain of Suoidis' shuttle ran over to the Emperor.

"Yes, my lord?" he asked.

"Call Admiral Rotok and tell him to send an extra squadron of TIE fighters to Tatooine. That is where the Rebels will stop next." Suoidis ordered.

"Yes, my lord." The captain nodded his head and began to head towards the shuttle…

"Captain?" Suoidis called.

"Yes, my lord?" The captain asked, turning toward Suoidis.

"Strike that last order. Prepare my shuttle. _We_ are going to Tatooine." Suoidis grinned.

"Yes, my lord." The captain said, and he continued to head for the shuttle.


	6. ATTACK OF THE DARK

The brown orb of Tatooine came into view. It had been two hours of lightspeed to reach the planet.

"Why would the Empire be here?" Luke asked over his X-Wing's radio.

"It's a small, desert world with a small population," Wedge replied over his own radio. "No one would guess that the Empire is here. What city do you recommend we start with? You're the one who grew up here."

"Mos Eisly's the most popular landing stop." Luke said.

"Then Mos Eisly it is!" Wedge grinned. The X-Wings sped towards a small group of lights on the planet's surface.

…………………………………………………………….

Suoidis' shuttle came out of lightspeed a few moments later. 

"We have arrived above Tatooine, my lord." The captain called to the man seated in the passenger's seat.

"Very good." Suoidis grinned. This was it.

…………………………………………………………….

The X-Wings landed out in the desert, about a mile away from Mos Eisly. The pilots climbed out of the ships, falling on to the hot sand.

"I never thought I would have to come here again." Luke sighed as he got up with the rest of the Rebels.

"But here you are." Wedge laughed.

Suddenly, the sky grew dark. Luke looked around, confused, but Wedge and the others didn't seem to notice. The darkness grew thicker and thicker until Luke couldn't see a thing. He heard a ship land, a landing ramp lower…

"A Force Shadow is a very powerful trick, young Skywalker." A voice snarled. Luke turned in the voice's direction, and the darkness vanished. Meanwhile, Wedge and the others Rebels pulled out their blasters and shot at the voice's owner.

Darth Suoidis grinned as he stuck out his hand, deflecting every single bolt.

"I expected you to stop shooting at a Sith by now," he said. "Perhaps Han Solo didn't teach you that." He then stuck out his hand, sending a wave of sand into all of his foes but Luke. They flew to the ground and didn't get up.

Luke ignited his lightsaber, trying to hold his sweaty, shaking hands still. He couldn't. Suoidis pulled out his own weapon, pulling out its second end. It locked into place, both sides ignited. Two red blades screamed death.

"It's time for you to pay for what your father did to me!" the Sith Lord called. "He ruined my life for YEARS!" And then Suoidis jumped into the air, landed behind Luke, and swung.


End file.
